Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 186 — page 19: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

19 ED Cool Desmond. - - . — a i i e+ ~ ee oe ee ne = - - - . in the rear, but this did not indicate that the ‘threats when they were reported to him and ‘Sir, we will have trouble.” avenger was there, also, A Sor seconds only bad the Cats paused, panic-stricken and bewildered, not knowing what to do, when rudely were they roused from their stupor. Another shot rung out on the night air; an- other man went down, mortally wounded, and writhing like a snake upon the ground, in the agonies of death. he outlaws awoke from their bewilderment. If the first shot had changed them into statues the second report transformed them into fleet- footed runners who would not have disgraced any race-track in the known world. here was no need of orders; there was no thought of the prisoners whom they had taken sO much pains to secure; there was only one wild idea, and that was to get away from tbe spot upon which they stood, as speedily as pos- sible. They spread out from the common center where they had stood like the rays of a fan, but one and all heading toward the hills and run- ning for dear life! _The brother and sister were wiht wags oN saved, and they knew not whom to thank; but, in their cabin, on bended knees, they prayed to Heaven to reward their preserver, whoever he might be. CHAPTER XXV. DESMOND SHOWS HIS TRETH. Or course when the morning came and the inhabitants of the town awoke to a knowledge of what had taken place wonder was intense. Nothing had ever occurred in Juanapolis since aaa Juanapolis which so stirred the public eart. The deaths of the two men who had been found in the street previous to this happening, with the peculiar wound in the head, both wounded in the head in exactly the same place and apparently by the same ball, had created a great deal of talk and wonder, particularly as the presence of all the valuables upon their per- sons proved that they had not been the victims of a common footpad bent upon plunder; but now that the town was in possession of the story told by the two pilgrims; now that they had seen the two bodies dressed up in the Cat dis- ise, for in their terrible fear the outlaws ad not attempted to remove the dress from their last fallen brothers; now that they had removed the outlaw garb and discovered that, like the three other men who had fallen by the selfsame hand and weapon, both of them were inhabitants of the camp, so-called miners, but who were noted more for drinking and gam- bling than for working—a terrible conviction began to spread around—that the outlaws, the Wild-cats, had their home and harborage right in the camp of Juanapolis! And when the citizens reflected upon this and remembered how many bloody deeds had been traced directly to the outlaws since the build- ing up of the town, beginning with the horrible massacre of Conejos, they began gravely to de- liberate whether a little taste of Judge Lynch wouldn’t be a good thing for Death Valley. _ Suspicion was rampant; distrust was visible upon almost every face. Every man looked at his neighbor with an inquiring glance, as much as tosay: ‘‘ Ara you one of the Cats? If you are the quicker you get out of this town the healthier it will be for you.” And as a natural consequence, during this sudden spasm of virtue, everybody in the camp who wasn’t a gambler, or a person of known bad character, began to talk vaguely about there be- ing too much ‘‘card-playing and drinking and deviltry going on for the good of the town and that it was about time a few inhabitants of the burg received a gentle hint to mend their ways.” Of course Desmond, being the head sporting man of the city, with his boldly displayed and apparently defiant sign, ‘‘The Desperado’s Den,” came in for the principal share of this. Every man who had ever tried to ‘buck against fortune in Desmond’s saloon, and come out the loser by the operation—and few men were there in the town who hadn’t tried this on at some time, since Desmond had bung out his extremely plain-spoken shingle—now saw a chance to get square with the man who had despoiled them. : e current was running strong against the cool sport, and more than one open threat had been made that if the gambler didn’t take in the sign which he displayed so tauntingly and replace it with one less obnoxious, the citizens would do it for him. Desmond, ignorant of the strength and extent of the gathering shove, inde light of these — i TT LL said, cool and careless as ever: ‘*Ob, I reckon it won’t be much of a rain, | anyway,” and not in the best of humors, this affair did not tend to improve the gambler’s temper. He had heard thet morning some idle gossip concerning young Shannon’s attentions to tho girl pilgrim, and a careless remark dropped in his hearing, that it was ten to one Shannon got the ‘‘ gal,” for he was ‘‘ such a polite cuss,” and had befriended the two upon their arrival in the town, greatly annoyed him; for to reveal the secrets of Desmond’s heart, although he had always declared that women were ‘ bad medicine ” to him, and that the further awa he could keep from them the better he liked it, had in reality been fascinated by the beauty of the girl, and from the moment she had set foot in the camp he had determined upon having her all to himself. He had imagined that he would have an easy task to win the prize, for he did not think the camp held a possible rival, but, in some way 1 had strangely overlooked the young store- eeper. Now that this gossip had reached his ears he debated the matter over seriously with himself. The gambler, like nearly all his race, was a solitary animal, and did not believe in con- fidants. Shannon was a good-looking young fellow, with a pleasing address, fully his equal in every respect, and, perhaps, his superior, when_his rofession was counted in, for the world at arge has a prejudice against men who follow cards for a living, although this prejudice is not particularly strong in the Western mining re- ons. ol must go and see him; I must interview my bold store-keeping sharp, and make him show his hand!” he declared, at the wind-up of his meditations. ‘‘ Mebbe, though, | won’t be able to make much of him, for, if he finds I am on the war-patb, he will probably craw-fish, and try to get out of it easy, for | reckon he ain’t the man to stand up boldly for his game.”’ Whether the gambler, with all his acuteness, had hit RolandShannon’scharacter off correct Y; the reader will soon see. These desperado kin of fellows often mistake quietness for cowardice. Shannon was in his store, and, as it happened, alone, when Desmond entered. From the peculiar look upon the gambler’s face, Shanuon suspected his mission was not a pleasant one. ‘‘See byer, Shannon, I want a word or two with you!” Desmend opened, rather roughly, approaching the young man, who sat on the counter, reading a newspaper. ‘‘Certainly,” the young man replied, as pleas- antly as though he thought the gambler came on a friendly visit. There was quite a contrast between the two, for the store-keeper was, by far, the more mus- cular man, and, as the gambler measured him with a critical eye, the impression came, that, in a personal encounter, the advantage was rather with Shannen. ‘¢‘See hyer, Shannon, how many gals do you want?’ he demanded, in a very offensive man- wer. The store-keeper looked surprised at the ques- tion. ‘““T do not exactly understand you.” ‘‘Oh, I will make it so plain that you can’t help understanding, and then I want you to come out and show your hand, or else I shall be under the disagreeable necessity of making you do it.” Desmond had made up his mind to force a quarrel on the store-keeper; then, to either kill or disable him if he didm’t give up the girl. He relied upon his skill as a pistol-shot to settle his rival. The store-keeper got quite red in the face, but he controlled his temper, perceiving that the gambler designed to irritate him. ‘* Go abead, sir, and explain what you want.” ‘*When you came sneaking after the Lauder- dale gal, I didn’t mind, fer I’m tired of her, anyway, and would be glad te get shut of her, but, with this stranger, the case is different. I have made up my mind that she is the heifer for my money; she suits me, and, as [ hear that you have been kinder fooling round her, I ‘Well, when?” ‘Whenever you like.” ‘Revolvers will do, 1 suppose?” ‘**Ob, yes, revolvers will suit me as well as anything you can mention,” ‘There is a nice little eet spot down the valley, just around the bend in the creek.” ‘‘T know the place, sir.” ‘* Well, I will stroll down there, and you can follow in a little while, so as not to excite suspi- cion. We don’t want to let the hull town into this thing, you know.” ‘‘Oh, no; there is no necessity for that.” ‘*T don’t s’pose we need any witnesses?” **T think not.” ** All right; I will start.” ** And I will follow you in five minutes,” The gambler strolled out of the town, slowly along down by the ‘“‘crick,” until he passed the bend which hid the town from his sight. In five minutes Shannon took the same road, CHAPTER XXVI. THE DUEL. ‘‘ A BETTER place than this hyer, for a couple of gentlemen to settle a leetle difficulty, couldn’t be found in all this territory,” the gambler re- marked as Shannon came up to him. And the remark was true; it was just the place for such an affair. Through the center of the little valley ran the streamle then for a hundred yards on each side of the water was an open plain, dotted here and there with little clumps of bushes; beyond rose the as Sr of the ranges, which the stream di- vided. Shannon cast a hasty glance around him and nodded assent. The place mattered very little to him. He was angry and annoyed that he had been forced into the affair, for it was the first one of the kind in which he had ever taken a part since he had journeyed in search of for- tune toward the land of the setting sun; but the quarrel had been compelled, and he saw no line of retreat; and, although not desirous of earn- ing the title of a SBN yet he was de- termined not to ye d obedience te the will of the overbearing host of the Desperado’s Den. ‘* Yes, sir, as pretty a place as I ever see’d!” Desmond continued. ‘And, I tell you, I was right glad you made up your mind to toe the scratch so promptly. Irather reckoned, from the way you have carried sail since you came to the camp, that you might show the white feather if you were forced to the scratch.” Shannon smiled in the most pom manner possible; he had immediately fathomed the game of his antagonist—to irritate him, to rouse his temper, and by so doing destroy the coolness.so necessary where life hung upon a man’s nerve, Noting the quiet, confident smile of the man whom he had so wantonly provoked into a con- test, Desmond began to suspect that the fight might not be such a “soft thing” for him as he had imagined. Shannon, never having been engaged in the slightest trouble since he came to Juanapolis, as far as any one in the town knew might be a dead shot with the revolver, or, what was far more likely, might be such a greenhorn in the use of the pistol as not to able to hit the side of a house at a hundred feet. ‘* Kitber he is good on the shoot, and knows it, and therefore is not afraid,” thought Des- mond, ‘‘ or else he is so big a greenhorn that he hasn’t any idea of the danger he is in, and so, like a fool, walks blindly on, smiling, to his doom.” But eyen cool, acute Desmond was in a quan- dary in regard to which character fitted Shan- non best, ' “T bad made up my mind, though, that. I would make you fight,” the gambler added. A peculiar look appeared on the young man’s face and a peculiar hight shone in his eves. “You really excite my curiosity. pardon me if [ask how you would have made me fight if I had not chosen to do so?” ‘*Oh, that would have been easy enough,” the other replied, carelessly. ‘‘I would have slap- ped your face, or erat your nose, or have done something of that kind to kinder raise your courage up to the sticking point.” ‘Well, [ tell you, Mr. Desmond, it is a lucky thoug kt I would come up avd explain matters | thing for you that you didn’t try that sort of to you, and tell yeu to step.” ‘* And, suppose that I don’t stop?” “Why, then you and [ will have trouble.” Shannon looked the gambler straight in the eye, and, from the peculiar expression upon the young store-keeper’s face, Desmond saw, for the first time, that he had made a mistake; the men Wes game to the buckbene, \ thing on me,” Shannon remarked, very quietly, ‘for right behind the counter on which I was, sitting, within easy reach of my band, was a good steut club, which I keep in reserve express- ly for emergencies, and if you had attempted to try either of the two games you mentioned I shold have promptly knocked you down with that club long before you could have drawn a EOMmicbooks the “‘crick;” | Will you / (E(o) is